A Rose in the Desert
by lexy.lynne4
Summary: Keiko finds herself in the grasp of slavers who are taking her into the deepest reaches of Hueco Mundo to the home of the creatures called Arrancars. Upon her arrival, she fears she has encountered her doom. Little does she know a certain blue-haired Arrancar will become her salvation. GrimmjowxOC


Hi all! This is my first story to be uploaded here. I hope you will enjoy it and please review!

Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach or any of the characters except my own Keiko and Ayumi. All others belong to Tite Kubo.

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"Move!" commanded one of the grunts as he nearly pushed Ayumi to the ground.

"Don't push her," I yelled at him as I elbowed the grunt holding onto me.

"Shut up," he ordered before pushing me forward as well.

After being dragged through Hueco Mundo for who knows how long, we arrived at some massive, god-forsaken palace where we were apparently to be sold to creatures called Arrancar. I couldn't see any way to get out of the situation we were in. I would have slaughtered the men that held us ages ago if it wasn't for Ayumi. She had been taken some time before me and comforted me when I was taken myself. She became like an older sister to me and I could never have imagined hurting her. I knew I had power, but I also knew that I couldn't control it. Besides, it wouldn't have done much good in the state I was in. I didn't have enough strength left.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" a voice said, snapping me out of my reverie.

The voice came from a vile-looking man who was walking toward us. _This must be an arrancar_, I thought to myself.

"Nnoitra," one of the grunts acknowledged. "Here are your new pets."

As if by cue, each of us was pushed to the ground. That was the last straw. I was done being pushed down by those idiots. I spun around and elbowed the nearest one in the knee cap. Another came to his aid only to smack me across the face. I was going after him next when I was pulled away.

"Keiko!" Ayumi screeched.

"My, my," the arrancar chided, "You're a fierce one aren't you."

I didn't think his ugly face could get any closer to mine when I heard yet another voice.

"Nnoitra," the voice called, "What the hell are you doing?"

The arrancar slacked his grip enough for me to turn toward the voice. It was another man, but this one had blue hair and the remnants of a mask on his face. _Great, another arrancar?_

"Oh, just having a little fun," he replied. "Here."

Suddenly I was being thrown across the room toward the blue-haired arrancar. I hit the ground right at his feet.

"What the hell? What am I supposed to do with it?" he asked.

"Whatever you want," he replied. "She's a little too rebellious for my taste."

I wanted to get up, to rip him apart, but I knew he was too strong and I was too weak.

He turned away. Then he grabbed Ayumi from the ground and gestured for the grunts to take the rest.

_No,_ I thought,_ not her_.

"Ayumi!" I screamed scrambling to get up.

The blue-haired arrancar grabbed my arm from behind.

"No!" I cried as I fought against him. I knew it was no use, but I couldn't just stand there and watch him take her.

"Don't worry about me, Keiko," she begged. "Take care of yourself."

"No, please," I pleaded. "Take me instead!"

But he was already walking away dragging Ayumi along with him.

As I look into her frightened eyes I yelled, "I'll get you out of here! I promise!"

Then they were out of my sight.

"Come on," the blue-haired arrancar ordered as he jerked me in the opposite direction

"No!" I retorted trying to pull away again. It was dumb, I know, but wasn't feeling very submissive.

He pulled me around to face him and that was it. My anger had flared out of my control. I felt the reiatsu oozing out of my body. I saw his eyes widen and I knew I had made a mistake. I quickly suppressed my reiatsu, but it was too late. He knew.

* * *

He dragged me to his quarters and threw me toward the bed.

"What the hell are you? A shinigami? What the hell are you doing here? Give me one reason why I shouldn't destroy you, bitch."

"Please, I'm not a shinigami. I was brought here. You just saw–"

"Bullshit! Not a shinigami? Then how do you explain that reiatsu? How are you suppressing it?

"I don't know."

"The hell you don't!"

"I'm nothing but a reject, okay! The shinigami didn't want me! I'm just a defective spirit!"

He stopped and stared at me.

"What the hell do you mean?"

"I mean I wasn't good enough for the shinigami! They left me to rot in the Rukongai and I ended up getting picked up by those scumbags and brought here! Why am I here anyway? Are you going to kill me or what?"

"No."

"No?"

He started walking away. I reached out for him feeling brave.

"Wait, what do you mean 'no'?"

He slapped my hand away.

"I mean 'no, I'm not going to kill you'. Now don't fucking touch me."

I just stood there stunned.

"I don't understand."

"I said I wasn't going to fucking kill you, isn't that enough? Now shut the hell up."

I stood there quietly. If he wasn't going to kill me what was he going to do with me?

"I–," I began before a loud rumbling noise came from my stomach.

He sighed without looking at me.

"You're hungry. I'll be back. Stay here if you want to live."

Before I could get a word in he was already slamming the door shut behind him.

I sat down on the bed wondering what I should do when I suddenly felt overcome by exhaustion. _Oh yeah_, I thought, _I haven't slept for days now._ As I finished the thought I could feel myself drifting off to sleep.

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Thanks for reading! I hope you liked the first chapter! Don't forget to review please! I'll be posting more soon!


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